Chili

Food allergies have been a blessing as well as a curse. Since I've had to make more than meal for everyone in our family, I've gotten the chance to try some recipes for myself that I've had to avoid for my family as a whole... like chili. Chili was kind of a staple of my diet growing up; my mom would always make it for the very first cold snap every year (and then frequently throughout the fall and winter). I've never gotten a chance to make for myself though because my husband doesn't like it. Crazy, right? He says it's something about the beans. Whatever. I've forgiven him... especially since he's so willing to try just about anything else. I feel really behind though. People are so particular about their chili and I've never even tried one recipe let alone found the perfect one. I guess everyone's got to start somewhere.

Chili
from Better Homes & Gardens
12 oz lean ground beef
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped green sweet pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 15-oz can dark red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 14.5-oz can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 8-oz can tomato sauce
2-3 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp dried basil, crushed

1. In a large saucepan cook ground beef, onion, sweet pepper, and garlic until meat is brown and onion is tender; drain fat. Stir in kidney beans, undrained tomatoes, tomato sauce, chili powder, basil, and 1/4 tsp black pepper. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 20 minutes.
   

Makes 4 servings (about 5 cups)

I forgot to take the ingredients picture so we'll just jump straight in. Here is the meat and vegetables cooking. I don't remember my mom putting peppers in her chili but they sound good. (I wasn't very attentive to my mom's cooking growing up though so I could be wrong.)

Adding the tomatoes, sauce, and spices.

Almost ready for simmering.

It only simmers for 20 minutes. That speed probably comes in handy sometimes but it seems like of quick to me.

The final product: good? The jury is still out on this one. The basil and garlic gives this chili a bit of an Italian flare and I haven't decided how I feel about that. I definitely liked the peppers and the overall chunkiness of it was good. And like most soups and stews the flavors meshed together to make this even better the next day. I'm wondering if you could achieve some of that effect by simmering this a bit longer. Overall, it definitely was a unique take on chili and I wouldn't say I didn't like it. It may just take another trial of it for me to straighten this out.

So what are your chili likes and dislikes? Do you have any recipes (or even just good key ingredients) that you'd be willing to share with this chili novice?